memories of the ’70s – bell bottoms

The sixties embraced the wide legged pants style – enhancing its counter culture riff on avoiding the traditional. But the 1970s took bell bottoms and insured the masses embraced it.

 

Inspired from navy uniforms of the past, bell bottoms aka flares were a foxy style choice of the 1970s. Denim enhanced the look, and everyone made sure they had their pair, enhanced with a leather or macramé belt, a stacked platform shoe or boot and snug fitting t-shirt to accentuate the line from shoulder down. As a fashion critique would say ‘the bell-bottom will accentuate your shape and lengthen your leg’.

 

From the concert stage to the office, bell bottoms came in all shapes and sizes. Although we reminisce about the denim, it was available in all fabrics, especially the newly popular and readily available polyester.

 

As a child, my Mum dressed me in polyester, knowing I was going to get dirty when I was playing outside. Whether it was from bike riding around the neighbourhood or exploring at the end of the street amongst the hills and valleys, my poly flares were stylin’. (except of course they were already getting too short, so they were unfortunately exposing my ankle, which of course, was a fashion no no!)

 

I remember a neighbour’s older daughter, with her long brown hair and insolent attitude. She was a self-consumed teenager, more interested in attracting teen boys than ever noticing a young child playing in the street. I remember her hanging out front of her house, sitting on the concrete wall at the edge of her driveway, waiting for friends to pick her up. She would constantly brush her hair, check her image in the reflection of the glass of her front door and not-so-subtly hope she was attracting attention. She loved her bell bottoms and would wear them every day with the pink and red floral embroidery along the side seam.

 

As she would stand there, I would watch her, thinking about those pretty flowers and the way her pants looked so tight but then were so big on the bottom. It didn’t make sense, and to a six year old, she seemed silly. I wondered why she always wore the same pants, not realizing the power of the bell bottom and the anxiety of a teen girl, wanting to stand out but also wanting to be part of the tribe.

 

Looking online I saw that Levis recently reintroduced their 1974 bell bottoms seeing the style come back. Of course, fashion now dictates that the style is wide-legged – correct but not as cool in its description of a clothing must-have of the 1970s closet.